Month: November, 2011

by Scott Smith

In the second of our interviews with a Webstock ’12 speaker, we’re both honored and delighted to present Adam Lisagor in conversation with Merlin Mann. They cover such topics as Webstock, the New Zealand accent, what it is Adam does, how he works and much, much more.

by Robinson

by Scott Smith

Still, doubts lingered. So Fasano set out to do a more comprehensive study — or, as he called it, “the most insane, large epidemiological study” on celiac disease in the U.S. to date. More than 13,000 subjects in 32 states were screened for the antibodies. Those who tested positive underwent further blood tests and, when possible, a small-bowel biopsy to confirm the presence of celiac disease. The results, published in 2003, were stunning: 1 in every 133 people had celiac disease. And among those related to celiac patients, the rates were as high as 1 in 22. People were listening now — and everything about gluten-free living was about to change. “Believe it or not,” he says, “the history of celiac disease as a public health problem in the United States started in 2003.”

by Scott Smith

Q: As I sit here watching my hapless Bills I am once again reminded that my relationship with this team is like a bad-long term relationship. You know, the kind where you are dating a guy and he eventually becomes comfortable with you and feels like you are such a good pal he no longer has to impress you by buying gifts and taking you to nice dinners and next thing you know you are in a relationship that is so non-exciting you decide to break it off. Then he apologizes and says he will work harder so you say ok, I’ll give it another shot, he can change (because at this point you really believe men can change). And it starts again, he’s back to sending flowers, taking you to nice dinners and you are all excited and you think he’s changed (but he really hasn’t…and you know this but you convince yourself he has so you can be happy for a little while) and eventually things go back to the way they were. The endless cycle keeps going until someone finally has the wherewithal to just put the relationship out of its misery and end it. I feel ashamed for having loved the Bills again. They have gone back to their old ways. When will I learn? — Francesca, Philadelphia, PA

SG: You left out the part where your boyfriend flies to Toronto once a year to have sex with someone else.

by Scott Smith

by Scott Smith

For bankers, it is the opposite: a bonus if they make short-term profits and a bailout if they go bust. The question of talent is a red herring: Having worked with both groups, I can tell you that military and security people are not only more careful about safety, but also have far greater technical skill, than bankers.

by Scott Smith

It’s what Alberto Salazar, for a while the world’s dominant marathoner and now the coach of some of America’s top distance runners, describes in mythical-questing terms as the “one best way” — not the fastest, necessarily, but the best: an injury-proof, evolution-tested way to place one foot on the ground and pick it up before the other comes down. Left, right, repeat; that’s all running really is, a movement so natural that babies learn it the first time they rise to their feet. Yet sometime between childhood and adulthood — and between the dawn of our species and today — most of us lose the knack.